Rozas, estivadas y pan de vedro: El cultivo temporal del monte en la Galicia de la Edad Moderna

Abstract

Although Galician historiography has previously dealt with the issue of temporary agricultural use of the mounts in the course of the Modern Age, as part of the study of forest resources as a whole, the objective of our work is to address in a specific way the analysis, and its evolution over time, from the resource of cultivation in the rozas or estivadas plowed in the mount and sown to obtain the so-called bread of vedro. To do this, we will try to approach the operation of said agrarian system, analyzing the complex slashing works, the necessary tools, or the types of closures and crops. In addition, we will investigate the historical origin of the periodic cultivation of the mount in Galicia, and its importance for peasant economies throughout the 16th to 19th centuries. To achieve these objectives, we will use a varied typology of documentary sources: judicial (civil lawsuits and before the Royal Audience of Galicia), fiscal (Ensenada Cadastre in 1753 and its Verifications in 1762), notarial protocols (post-mortem inventories), as well as others, such as reports from the Royal Academy of Agriculture of Galicia or files of exception of mountains derived from the liberal confiscation of the 19th century.